Press Material

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Phillip Steinmetz & His Sunny Tennesseans are dedicated to carrying on the tradition of Old Time Mountain Music, and have been bringing their music to audiences all over the United States since 2005.

The band’s captivating, high-energy performances transport audiences back in time as they harken the audience back to the early days of the Grand Ole Opry. Their fans  say their music reaches deep in their souls, and takes them back on a nostalgic trip of days of yore and more simple times.

This is a band that knows how to entertain, audience members have described Phillip Steinmetz & His Sunny Tennesseans as having excellent musicianship combined with an entertaining style, upbeat personalities on stage and lots of good natured interaction with the audience.

The band plays forgotten favorites from musical pioneers such as Grandpa  Jones, The Carter Family, Uncle Dave Macon, Stringbean The Coon Creek Girls, Sam & Kirk McGee, Wade Mainer, Charlie Poole, The Stanley Brothers, and many others. The group holds tight to tradition by performing tunes as authentically as possible. 

The band is led by Phillip Steinmetz, who is the great-nephew of none other than the late Grandpa Jones, the beloved Grand Old Opry member and star of the successful country music television program “Hee Haw”. 

As a child, Phillip was  exposed to Old-time mountain music during Grandpa Jones frequent visits for holidays and family gatherings. At the age of ten, Phillip received his first banjo from Grandpa in the mail. Grandpa then started teaching Phillip the clawhammer lick. This is when Phillip’s career began to take a shape of its own. He started establishing his own identity due to his love for the Civil War era and history which lead to his homespun attire when  performing that is befitting of the Old-Time Mountain Music style.  

Over his music career Phillip’s list of accomplishments began in 1989 and again in 1990 when he shared the stage with Grandpa Jones in Fort Christmas, Florida. Phillip also won the Florida State Banjo Championship in 1996, in which he was the only clawhammer picker to compete. In 2000, Phillip won the Old-Time Banjo National Championship at the annual Uncle Dave Macon Days Festival in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with his rendition of Kirk  McGee's "Snowdrop" by picking it two-finger style. In recognition, he was invited to perform at "Opry Fest" to celebrate the 75th Birthday of The Grand Old Opry. When he won the title again in 2002, he was included as a feature performer on  WSM's "Opry Star Spotlight" and was broadcast live on WSM  "Macon's Memories" where he played one of Uncle Dave Macon's banjos.   

Phillip went on to become a 3 time Old-Time Banjo National Champion by winning the title again in 2005, becoming only the second 3-Time National Champion.  In 2008 Phillip also won the Old-Time Banjo Championship for the state of Tennessee where he and the Sunny Tennesseans were also crowned Tennessee State Old Time Band Champions.

In 2006, Phillip appeared on PBS Television's  Tennessee Crossroads. Phillip and his Sunny Tennesseans have also appeared as regulars on RFD-TV's Cumberland Highlanders Show, a weekly bluegrass show filmed in Rosine, Kentucky. Since then they have appeared in numerous scenes of several movies. 

In June 2019 they released their latest album “When You Hear the First Whippoorwill’s Song” on Spotify, ITunes, Apple Music and More to be heard and enjoyed all over the world.  The upcoming years looks to be very busy for Phillip Steinmetz & His Sunny Tennesseans. Their schedule will be taking them from the East Coast to the West Coast and they look forward to meeting many more exciting people as well as seeing many old friends.